Vladimir Dinets is an American zoologist known for his studies of Crocodilian behavior and of numerous rare animals in remote parts of the world, as well as for popular writings in English and Russian.
Education
Dinets was interested in
zoology from an early age,
[
]
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Dinets V. Spontaneous development of hunting-like behavior in juvenile humans: a case study. Humanimalia 8:32-40 and was a winner of all-USSR Student Biology Olympics at Moscow State University.
[ Archive of Moscow State University student biological olympics (in Russian)] However, due to his
ancestry, he was unofficially banned from entering that university,
[Dinets, V. Farewell, My Empire! AVP, Moscow, 1998, 220 pp. (in Russian)] and obtained a master's degree in biological engineering from Moscow State Institute of Radio-engineering Electronics and Automation. Being strongly opposed to First Chechen War, Dinets emigrated to the United States in 1997, and in 2011 obtained a Ph.D from University of Miami (adviser Steven Green).
Dinets maintained a popular bilingual blog on
LiveJournal, mostly defunct since the 2014 onset of Russo-Ukrainian War, which caused him to cut off his ties with
Russia, and has a website
[ Vladimir Dinets' website] with a number of illustrated essays on biology, conservation and travel.
Work
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Dinets' early zoological studies were conducted in remote areas of the USSR, China and South America; he also participated in a number of conservation projects in Russia, Mongolia, Israel and Peru.
[Dinets, V. Winter ecology of willow and rock ptarmigans at the northern limit of their range. Ornitologia 29: 326-327 (in Russian with English summary)]
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In 1996-1999 Dinets conducted a study of international trade in endangered and consulted the governments of Nepal and Sikkim on the issue, providing a set of recommendations for improving anti-poaching and anti-traffic control.
[Dinets, V. Shadows around a lamp. Arguments and Facts, December 19, 2001 (in Russian)]
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In 2000-2005 Dinets participated in studies of Cetacean, as well as the natural circulation of plague on the Great Plains (at University of Colorado) and Sin Nombre hantavirus in the American Southwest (at the University of New Mexico).
[Dinets, V. First Photo of a Bay Cat in the Wild. IUCN/SSC Cat News 38: 5.] woolly flying squirrel in the mountains of Pakistan,[ Dinets, V. Observations of the woolly flying squirrel Eupetaurus cinereus in Pakistan. Mammalia 75(3): 277-280.] and Cameroon scaly-tail in Central African Republic.
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In 2005-2013 Dinets conducted a comparative study of social behavior of , working in 26 countries.
[ Dinets, V. The role of Habitat in Crocodilian Communication] In 2009-2013 he documented the ability of and to use coordination and role separation during cooperative hunting
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In 2011 Dinets took part in WWF expedition to Vietnam to study saola, and became the first zoologist to find and photograph saola tracks in the wild.
[ Dinets, V. Tracking the mystery animal. Vokrug Sveta 2012(2) (in Russian)]
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In 2012-2013 Dinets was a research associate at Louisiana State University, working on whooping crane reintroduction to Louisiana and studying behavioral ecology.
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Since 2011 Dinets is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee, where he is studying behavioral ecology and its applications to conservation.
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In 2017-2021 Dinets was a Science and Technology Associate and later a Visiting Researcher at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology,
[ OIST Science and Technology Group webpage] working on behavior, ecology and conservation of birds and mammals in Asia.[ OKEON Project webpage] conducting a long-term study of Okinawa ecosystems, and discovered the first case of permanent endothermy in an invertebrates (semi-sessile lanternflies); that discovery has important implications for paleontology, evolutionary physiology, and invasive species control.
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Since 2022 Dinets is teaching Mathematics at Rutgers University.,
[ Rutgers University webpage] while continuing research on behavioral ecology and conservation.
Books
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In 1993-1997 Dinets wrote a number of books about travel that remain popular in Russia.
[ Academy of Free Travel (in Russian)]
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Volumes of Encyclopedia of Russian Nature series, Actual Biology Fund, 26,000 copies published:
[ ABF books catalog (in Russian)] A. Beme, A. Cherenkov, V. Dinets, V. Flint. Birds of Russia (1995); V. Dinets, E. Rotshild. Mammals of Russia (1997); V. Dinets, E. Rotshild. Domestic Animals, 1998.
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J. Newell (ed.) The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide for Conservation and Development.
[J. Newell (ed.) The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide for Conservation and Development. ] Daniel & Daniel Publishers (2004).
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V. Dinets. Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations
[V. Dinets Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations ] Arcade Publishing (2013), softcover edition 2021 [V. Dinets Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations ] Arcade Publishing.
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V. Dinets. Peterson Field Guide to Finding Mammals in North America (Peterson Field Guides series)
[V. Dinets Peterson Field Guide to Finding Mammals in North America ] Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2015).
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V. Dinets. Wildlife Spectacles: Mass Migrations, Mating Rituals, and Other Fascinating Animal Behaviors
[V. Dinets Wildlife Spectacles: Mass Migrations, Mating Rituals, and Other Fascinating Animal Behaviors ] Timber Press (2016).
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S. M. Doody, V. Dinets, G. Burghardt. The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles
[S. M. Doody, V. Dinets, G. Burghardt. The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles ] Johns Hopkins University Press (2021).
External links
